Stories When You're Young
by loveandallthat
Summary: Aang, Zuko, Toph and Katara all were told the same story when they were young. But now they are sixteen and it seems like those stories are starting to come true. Modern world with bending but no Avatar. Indefinite hiatus, due to lack of interest.
1. Chapter 1

This storyline may be kind of overused, but I promise to put my own spin on it at least. I haven't seen any like it recently so I guess one now won't be terrible. Extreme thanks to Twilight Rose2 for all the help writing!

* * *

**Stories When You're Young**

**Chapter 1**

"_This is a story about four extraordinary people._

_On the same night, under the glow of the full moon, four children will be read this story. They will all be granted special powers, unlike anything ever seen before._

_The motherly child will gain the control of water._

_The angty child will be given control of fire._

_The strong-willed child will be granted control of earth._

_The carefree child will be able to control air._

_What they can and can't do with these powers will be up to them. They will learn what to do on their own._

_When they are 16, they will all be transferred to the same school. And then the four shall meet. They will know exactly when that time comes, and be able to use their powers after that. But be warned: on your 18th birthday, you will be tested." _A man called Iroh, one called Gyatso, one called Hakoda, and a certain Mr. Bei Fong, all finished the story at the same time, to Zuko, Aang, Katara, and Toph. The group of 6 year olds had no idea what to make of the story, nor did the adults.

* * *

"Da-a-ad! Why do you have to send me and Sokka to boarding school?" A 16 year old Katara asked.

"It'll be good for you two. It's too small here for you guys and I know you have to get away." Hakoda said firmly.

"But we have friends here. We don't know anybody going there!" Sokka complained.

"Exactly. You both know that if you want to do something good with yourselves, you need to get out of here, out of this town of nothing!"

"I like nothing!" Katara said.

"You're going, okay? Trust me, you'll thank me."

* * *

"Mom? Do I have to go? Discipline Academy already sounds like a completely lame place and I haven't even been there!"

"Well they have a great program for the blind students. They sit in class with all the others and everything, because everything is avaliable in braille and you have your new computer!"

"I don't care. I like it here. What if I run into something because I don't know where everything is?"

"You will have a guide to help you. You'll be fine. I love you!"

* * *

"You can't be surprised. Azula needs to be able to continue with her soccer. She is an amazing prodigy and you just get in the way! We need to focus our time and effort on her, because she can make the family of athletes proud!" Ozai yelled at his son.

"I could make you proud too, just give me a chance!" Zuko said.

"No," was the simple reply.

* * *

"So, Aang, you are finally my legal son, and you can attend my academy. Now, don't expect any special treatment just because I'm the dean!" Gyatso said.

"But I'm just your adopted son," Aang pointed out.

"That doesn't change how I feel. Now you will have fun at the Academy."

"I know. Thank you." Aang smiled.

* * *

"And we welcome our 5 new students to our junior year here at Discipline Academy! Zuko, Katara, Sokka, Aang, and Toph!" an overly perky teacher announced. They all tried to get on the stage from backstage, but only Sokka made it through. The rest all fell on top of each other in an extremely awkward heap. Then, all the lights flickered, the ground shook. "Then the four shall meet," a voice whispered.

"Why does that sound famiar?" Aang asked.

"I was thinking the same thing," Toph said.

"Like the story!" Katara whispered.

"Wait… you guys heard that story too?" Katara asked.

"Yeah. It can't be true though," Zuko said.

"I don't know, this is pretty suspicious. All of this happening, the creepy voice, the shaking," Toph said.

"Yeah, I think this may be real. What if we really do have powers?" Aang suggested.

"Well... here's Sokka, anyways..." the teacher said.

"Well," Katara said, "there's only one way to find out. Lets meet behind the school after lights out and see if we can actually control what the book had said." They all agreed, Zuko half-heartedly. Then Mrs. Perky lady came backstage and dragged them on to introduce them.

* * *

"Well," Mrs. Whatever her name was said, "these are the overflow student dorms. There are only two, so girls go in that one and guys in that one. There are three beds in each, so you should be fine, even in the girls dorm with your guide, Toph. I'll let you get settled."

"Hi," Katara said.

"Hi," Toph said said.

"Hi! I'm Song, Toph's guide!" Toph's guide said. Nobody bothered to answer.

"You don't really want to talk right now?" Katara asked Toph.

"It's fine. I'm just glad to get away from home."

"Why?"

"Listen. If I ever get to know you, then maybe I'll tell you."

Katara smiled. "Deal."

* * *

"So, what's up with you guys?" Aang asked.

"Eh. The usual," Sokka replied

Zuko said nothing.

"What's wrong with you?" Sokka asked.

"Nothing," Zuko said, "I'm just tired, okay?"

"Okay," Aang said in the happy voice of his. And Zuko didn't know why, but he thought he may learn to like that guy.

* * *

At 10:30, behind the school, 5 teenagers were gathered around. One was guided by her roomate, and they had just had troble leaving their room without waking Toph's guide, but luckily they were not late. One was an unnecessary tagalong, but his sister was there, and he wouldn't leave her with strangers. He had never read the book so he lounged against a wall to watch.

"Who should go first?" Katara asked.

"Nose goes," Toph said.

Toph, then Katara, then Zuko put their fingers on their noses. Aang forgot.

"Okay Aang, you go!" Katara said.

"But I'll look dumb… and we don't even know what I'd control," Aang said.

"Well, isn't it obvious? Zuko's angry, so he's fire, Katara's motherly so she's water, Aang's carefree so he should be air, and I'm strong-willed so I'm earth," Toph said.

"Sounds good to me!" Sokka said from his spot at the wall.

"Please?" Katara pouted.

"Fine." And with that, Aang thrust his hands in front of him, in an attempt to push the air.

* * *

Yes I know something like this may have been written, if it has I never read it, and I am thinking I will really like this story. I am working on two long fics, while I usually only write oneshots, so this will be a little weird for me, but if I have at least 2 people actually like this fic then I promise I will keep writing it and post frequently.


	2. Chapter 2

Yay

**Yay! 4 reviews is good enough for me. Go ahead and ask for any pairings you want, although I guess it is inconvenient since I have 5 main characters… someone else may show up if they are requested. But they won't bend. Haha for them! Ok, so chapter 2!**

Stories When You're Young

Chapter 2

"Fine." And with that, Aang thrust his hands in front of him, in an attempt to push the air. And, shockingly enough, it worked. However, Aang had not been expecting that, so the blast pushed Aang backwards into a tree and slammed Zuko into the wall of the building.

Five faces displayed a look of complete shock.

"Did he just-" Toph asked.

"I think so," Katara said.

"Ow," Zuko said.

"COOL!" Aang yelled, and was met with 4 "shhhhhh"s.

"Sorry."

Sokka broke out of a trance that he had previously been in and stood up. "You know, there's certainly a scientific explaination. Obviously Aang did that just as a highly concentrated draft of wind blew in two directions at both Aang and Zuko and thrust them backwards."

"Sokka that makes no sense," Katara said.

"Yeah, I know, but that isn't possible!"

"Well we should try and prove it. Someone else try!" Aang did eenie meenie miney moe and ended up on Katara.

"Does anybody have water? NO! So I don't think I can," Katara argued.

"Here." Sokka chucked a water bottle at his sister.

"Ow. Sokka you hit me in the face!"

"Sorry."

"Just try it already!" Toph yelled.

"Shhh!!" the others said. Toph sighed.

"Here goes nothing," Katara said. She opened the water bottle and placed it on the ground. Then her hand made almost a grabbing motion as she attempted to remove the water from the bottle. It came out and moved toward her hand. She quickly pushed her hand out and the water flew in that direction, and it hit Zuko in the face.

"Why must everyone aim for me?" Zuko asked. Sokka laughed. Aang pushed air at Zuko to dry his hair, but it ended up just making it stand up funny. Zuko angrily pushed his hair back into place.

"Alrighty Toph, you go!" Aang said.

Toph rolled her eyes. "Try to do what?"

"Control earth!" Aang said.

"And make it…?"

"Um… make somebody sink!"

"I'm blind! How am I supposed to know that there are people there, there, there, and there? Hey… I can feel where you guys are! That is so weird… wait which one of you is which?"

They all said their names in turn.

"Awesome! I can tell you apart through your weights and foot sizes. This is crazy! Ok, I'll give it a try…" Toph pushed her hands down simultaneously and Zuko sunk down into the earth.

"And I end up on the receiving end again…" Zuko mumbled, climbing out of the hole.

"Well this time you wont, because it's your turn to try to control fire," Aang pointed out.

"There is none," Zuko replied.

"Try and make some," Katara suggested.

After he had rolled his eyes he pushed a hand in front of him to try and make fire.

Nothing happened.

**Ooh… Zuko can't bend… what's going to happen to him? Sorry if you think that there's too much dialogue or if you think the chapter is too short. I still don't have a real plot for this story, only one thing so far is planned that will happen, but that will be near the end. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Well, I waited long enough. New chapter time. So any preferred pairings? I'm thinking of pairing the four benders together with someone who bends, and then Sokka with someone like Mai or Ty Lee or Suki, except I don't know if I like Suki all that much… but if there's something that will make this story more fun to read please tell me!**

Stories When You're Young

Chapter 3

"Ugh!! Why won't this work? You guys completely bend all the rules of life and I can't do anything?" Zuko asked.

"You know, bending is actually a good name for it," Toph said, and Aang and Katara agreed.

"Do you guys even care that I'm yelling over here?" Zuko asked.

"Not really," Katara said, "this is way too cool."

"Uh oh! I'm pretty sure I can feel someone coming!" Toph whispered, and they all ran to their respective rooms as quickly as they could.

Unfortunately for Toph and Katara, they had to be quiet because Song was not allowed to hear any of this, and Aang didn't want to talk about his new ability because it would be rude since Zuko and Sokka may feel jealous. So he just remained silent and tried to prevent his excitement from boiling over.

* * *

Katara was suddenly glad that she had chosen early classes, because then she woke up, got ready, and then spent time in the bathroom with the sink running so she could practice with the water. She was getting a little better, too, and she realized that she could freeze and unfreeze it, which she was finding really cool. Her classes ended early, too, so without any fear of waking her roommates, considering they were in a class, she could run the shower and practice with larger quantities of water.

* * *

Toph, on the other hand, liked having late classes, because it allowed her to sleep in after sneaking out late at night to practice outside. Also, if she woke up early, she kept a medium sized rock in one of her drawers that she liked to practice with when she got the chance.

* * *

Aang's classes were scattered throughout the day, but he really didn't need anywhere specific to practice. He had realized how to make it nearly a solid object, and he could use air to lift things, including himself.

* * *

Zuko had gotten past trying every night to produce fire, and he had decided to tempt fate. He tried to light extremely expensive or important things on fire whenever he got bored, but it never worked. So he had resorted to even different methods. He had shoplifted a lighter from a drugstore because he was pretty sure they couldn't sell one to minors and he knew that if he asked then he would look suspicious. He now sat trying to change the shape or size of the flame, but with no results.

* * *

A month flew by, and abilities increased, so Katara, being Katara, arranged a meeting after lights out, to see how everybody had improved, and because maybe they would be able to help each other. Besides, Katara wanted all of them to be friends since there was nobody else they could share this with.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I know that it has probably been way too long, but I guess maybe new people will find this story. I also recognize the fact that the first few chapters are mediocre at best. But I really hate to leave things unfinished. Here goes!**

Aang, Katara, Toph, and Sokka were waiting at their typical meeting place at midnight. Zuko hadn't shown up yet. Aang was blowing a gentle breeze at Sokka's head while pretending he wasn't. Sokka wasn't falling for it. Katara was trying to take the water out of a puddle without bringing the mud with it. Toph had her shoes off and was trying to sense the vibrations of people so that she could know what they were doing. She knew who was where, and had started to be able to tell when they were bending their knees. She figured that was a start to knowing what they were doing with the rests of their bodies.

Zuko walked up, flicking a lighter on and off, an extremely angry look in his eyes.

"Where have you been? You're half an hour late! Don't you realize that some of us need to get a certain amount of sleep?" Katara asked.

"Oh... sorry, I… lost track of time." The truth was Zuko had wanted to be able to have some progress to show when he met with the group. After all his trials, however, nothing had managed to happen.

"Liar." Toph said lazily.

"No I'm not," Zuko said. "What are you talking about?"

"Your heartbeat sped up and your voice became slightly higher pitched. My hearing has always been above average, and I can usually tell when people are lying. Easy-to-read people, anyway. And now I can feel heartbeats. Face it; you're a completely horrible liar." Zuko glared, and sat down under a tree.

"So, where were you really?" Katara asked.

"Oh yeah, why were you so late?" Aang joined in. They began to pester him. They asked and asked and asked and asked and Zuko gradually became angrier and angrier, until with a loud growl, a blast of fire shot out of Zuko's hand… directly toward Aang's face. It would have hit, but Aang blew air that sent it right toward Zuko's eye. It hit.

Zuko screamed, and had there not been a quick hand placed over his mouth by Aang, he may have woken the school. Aang's eyes went wide with horror. He had just burned someone, badly. Immediately, tears began to fall. Aang has always been really concerned with others, and he would never hurt even a bug.

"Oh my GOD! Zuko, are you alright?" He asked. Zuko just held a hand to his face. Katara quickly moved the hand aside and bent water from Sokka's water bottle at Zuko's eye. She tried to make it cool, but not to cold, and suddenly, it glowed white. When she pulled her hand away, the scar had the appearance of on that was weeks old. She gaped. Zuko reached up and hand and felt his face.

"What just happened?" he asked. None of them answered. They couldn't speak. Zuko stood up and left, unable to speak about the incident.

Back in the boys' room, Aang refused to stop blaming himself and apologizing. Sokka was already fast asleep, which frankly confused Aang to no end. Was that not exciting enough to keep him up?

Zuko looked directly into Aang's eyes. "It wasn't your fault. It would have hit you if you hadn't done something."

"I know, and I wish that it had."

Zuko sighed. "Don't say that. Really, it's fine. I never really cared how I looked, and this doesn't hurt anymore. Stop beating yourself up. Besides, look what I can do thanks to you." Zuko closed his eyes, and almost seemed to be gathering anger. He then released a small amount of fire from his hand. It harmlessly flickered out in midair.

"Not to preach, or anything, but I was thinking that it may not be such a good thing to draw power from your anger. I think it will be hard to control. I bend better when I'm calm and relaxed. There must be a better way for you to firebend. What I think you should do is-" Aang was cut of by Zuko's words.

"Absolutely not. It finally works and you think that I should just start again? No. I can't do that. I just need practice, that's all." Zuko said.

"I really think that-"

"Goodnight." Zuko said.

**A/N: Hmm… the writing quality is a bit better than the other ones, and I have a plan for the next chapter. But I need someone to teach Zuko. So any suggestions? **

**I've been thinking a lot about pairings, which this story will have. I'm very Kataang, but that would mean that it would either be Tokka or Toko, and I don't like Toko. It could be Zutara and Taang, which I suppose is kind of nice and plus the benders would pair off together and that would be nice. But I don't know…**

**Zutara/Taang or Kataang/Tokka I guess. I am kind of a Tokka freak so if its Taang then the Taangyness will be minimal.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Here's a present to anybody out there reading. It's… an extra long chapter! Primarily because I'm bored and I have a new laptop and there's no way in hell that I can fall asleep now. And also, I've been getting comments about how it's unreasonable for them to become friends so easily, but they aren't friends. They're people who share a secret and tolerate each other enough to gather when Katara wants them to. They're also roommates, which I guess makes them a little closer. But really, they don't trust each other, except Sokka and Katara, obviously. I do, however, acknowledge the unlikelihood that they would tolerate each other to this extent. But whatever. This chapter is because we all know that Iroh takes his tea very seriously.**

* * *

"That'll be $3.75," the lunch lady at the school cafeteria said to Zuko. He pulled out his wallet and fished around for his money. He pulled out three dollar bills and peered inside. Nothing. He held the wallet upside down and shook it, as if there was any chance that a dollar had somehow wedged itself in a corner where it was impossible to see. Unfortunately, none had.

"Here," a voice said, and a hand gave a dollar to the lunch lady. Zuko looked up to see that it was Aang.

"No! Really, you don't have to do that. Seriously, I'll just put something back. It's fine," Zuko said, but the lunch lady had accepted the dollar, placed it into the cash register, and taken out a quarter, which, upon realizing that Zuko wasn't going to take, she handed to Aang. She then began to help the next student. Aang walked off, to go do whatever it was he did when he wasn't casually passing through the lunchroom and paying for part of Zuko's lunch.

"You didn't have to do that…" Zuko said, but Aang was long gone. Zuko sat down at a nearby table and considered the fact that, as little as he wanted to, he may need to get a job. His dad simply wasn't giving him enough money. He sighed and pulled out his cell phone. It was time to make a call to his uncle.

* * *

"Of COURSE you can have a job at the Jasmine Dragon!" Zuko's uncle, Iroh, replied to Zuko's question. Zuko didn't know if he was happy or not. He would have money, but did he really want to work at a tea shop? Zuko couldn't figure that out, but figured that this could save him the embarrassment of having Aang pay for his lunch, or something.

"But nephew, you remember, this is the best teashop in the area, if I do say so myself. You will have to go through training to be able to serve tea, not to mention to be able to brew it! I suppose I can train you to serve it in a few nights, and then you can serve here while I train you to be able to make tea."

So the next day, Zuko grudgingly showed up at the tea shop just after closing time. He didn't look forward to this at all. Who the hell needed training to serve tea anyway? Ugh.

Iroh sat Zuko down at one of the tables and handed him a cup of tea, which Zuko accepted. "So nephew, I'll just get right into this. Now the key to serving tea is balance. You need to balance a tray, not only so that you don't drop it, but so that you don't even spill the tiniest drop of precious tea. In order to walk with good balance, you will have to walk with good posture and focus. You will not be able to have any anger. Now, if you can remember this, you can try it with that plastic tea set."

How degrading. His uncle thought that he needed a plastic set. As if he was going to drop the set. Zuko decided that he should do a good job just to show his uncle not to underestimate him. He placed a hand under the tray and balanced it out in front of him. He began to take a few steps, and he somehow managed to lose the balance he had found with the tray, and it slid out of his hand and landed loudly on the floor.

"Stupid teapot!" Zuko yelled.

"You can't blame the teapot for your own mistakes, Zuko. You let your anger get in the way of your balance. You were so focused on proving that this was easy that instead you made it hard. Focus on the balance, and get rid of all your anger," Iroh preached- er, I mean said. "Now, try again, but with less anger."

And he did try. But it was very hard for him to get rid of all his anger towards not only having to serve tea, but having to learn how to do it. After doing it for a while, however, he felt his anger begin to leave him. He didn't know what was going on, but he was gradually getting better and better and thinking less about the weird fact that he had to serve tea, and more about balancing. And he started to be able to do it. The teapot didn't fall, and after a while, Iroh added water and he didn't spill that either. Then- and Iroh was really nervous about this part- he added tea to the plastic teapot. And nothing spilled.

"Brilliant! You have finally managed balance and focus and you were able to carry that perfectly! You may be able to carry a metal tea set now! But, it's late now. So I suppose we will start that training later." Iroh hugged Zuko, who stood there awkwardly waiting for him to stop, pretending that it wasn't great to have someone proud of him, even for something as irrelevant as serving tea.

Zuko got back to his dorm room, and Aang and Sokka were nearly ready to go to sleep. Aang kind of looked like he wanted to ask Zuko where he'd been, but like he wasn't going to. Zuko really couldn't look him in the eye after the lunch incident.

"You do realize there's a 20 dollar bill taped to the back of your shirt, right?" Sokka asked Zuko. Zuko reached behind him and, in fact, pulled a folded bill of the back of his shirt. A folded bill wrapped around another folded bill. Uncle. He rolled his eyes, and put it in his pocket as he walked to get ready to sleep.

* * *

The next day, his classes went on much the same as they usually did. Boring, and full of a temptation to fall asleep. He did his homework how he always did, too. Quickly, with just enough quality. He kept glancing at the clock, almost as if he was starting to look forward to working with his uncle, which of course was not even possible. Aang, who was doing his homework basically the same way that Zuko did it, but with slightly less determination (he got distracted by basically everything), looked up.

"Why do you keep looking at the clock? Hot date?" Aang asked, suddenly. Zuko tried not to jump.

"No, I have to go to my job at 8," Zuko replied, still unable to look at Aang.

"What kind of job starts at 8?"

"Well, it's job training. I have to go when the shop closes so there are no customers. Although, I really don't see the need for the training, but as you probably figured out, I need the money." Zuko looked at Aang this time, and Aang looked back. He shrugged.

"It happens to everyone who goes to school away from home. Parents don't know how much money to send. The same thing happened to Sokka last week," Aang said happily. Zuko didn't see much to be happy about.

"Did you have to pay for him too?"

"Have to? No. But, as you pointed out, I didn't have to pay for you either. But I did pay for Sokka. So where do you work, anyway?"

Zuko definitely thought that this kid was crazy, the way he jumped back to past subjects, but mostly he just didn't want to answer that question. "My uncle's tea shop. The Jasmine Dragon."

"Oh. Your uncle owns it? I've heard it's really nice there. I've never been there, but maybe I should go sometime. I like tea. Do you? Well, I guess I would hope you do if you work at a tea shop…" Zuko blinked. What had this kid had for breakfast?

"Alright, well I have to go now. See you later?" Zuko said awkwardly as he left for his training.

"Bye!!!"

Zuko walked into the teashop where his uncle was drinking tea at one of the tables. "Are you seriously drinking tea right after you close your teashop?" Zuko asked as a way of greeting. Iroh laughed.

"Okay, so today we start with the metal teapot! There's tea in here, so you'd better not even think about spilling it. Zuko was ready this time. He had perfect balance, and focus, and no anger. His mind was on tea serving.

"Wow, Zuko, you are really getting good at this! You may be ready for the china teapot!" And he was. After handling that perfectly, Iroh brewed them a pot of tea, and Zuko poured it without spilling at all. Iroh was impressed.

"So, nephew, pardon my asking, but how did you get that scar on your eye? It looks like a burn," Iroh said.

Zuko choked. He thought back to that day, where he had first been able to firebend and he had nearly burnt Aang until it was reflected back to him. He remembered Katara healing it, and vaguely wondered why nobody had noticed a healed scar appearing on his face overnight. He supposed his uncle had probably noticed the other day but had waited until that moment to point it out. It occurred to him that he really needed a cover story, and honestly couldn't think of one.

"I'm sorry, but I just can't tell you that right now, uncle," he said.

"I can respect that, Zuko. You will tell me when you are ready." This definitely made Zuko appreciate his uncle. "I suppose it's time for you to leave, Zuko. Come by tomorrow at 5 and you may actually begin to serve tea here." Iroh held out his arms for a hug.

"Come on, uncle, no more money-hugs."

"This isn't a money-hug! It's a hug-hug!" Zuko rolled his eyes and leaned in to hug his uncle. When they were finished, he reached behind his back and handed the money back to Iroh and left. Iroh laughed.

The next day, Zuko was doing relatively well at his new job when a customer came in and sat at one of Zuko's tables. Aang. Zuko came over and asked him what he wanted. When he came back with the order, Aang asked for the bill, too.

"It's on the house," Zuko said, and turned to walk away. Aang sipped his tea, which really was quite good. Zuko continued to serve the other customers and ignored Aang. When he went to clean off Aang's table, he found a ten dollar bill left there. So much for on the house. Zuko rolled his eyes. What was with this kid? Was he some sort of freak? The possibility never occurred to Zuko that he was starting to make a friend.

* * *

**A/N: Whew. That was fun. I wrote this whole chapter watching What Happens In Vegas, because I'm weird like that, and it's quite possibly my favorite movie ever. I intended for this to be a Zuko training chapter only, but somehow it turned into Zuko and Aang friendship. That's weird; I was planning Sokka and Aang friendship. Expect that in the next chapter, and possible Toph and Katara too. Wow, this chapter is long compared to my other ones. Anyway, please review**. **I'll keep this story going as long as one person still likes it; I'm not going to be one of those "10 reviews and I'll continue" authors.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: So, I won't tell you who the romantic pairing is yet, but I do have one. Obviously, with my five main characters and the fact that I don't want to put any boyxboy pairings in here, there's one boy who'll need a girl. And it isn't Aang. So who should Sokka or ZUKO date, because I have to bring them into the story now for character development and all that. But clearly, I didn't give away who it is or anything, with CAPITAL LETTERS or whatever. Cough-KATAANG AND TOKKA FOREVER-cough. I'm really bad with secrets. Anyway… I think I have another chapter to write. Oh yeah and I do not nor will I ever own Avatar or anything related. Except the third season on DVD. And, to continue with what I did last time, I'll tell you what I was doing while I wrote it. I was watching Spectacular on Nickelodeon, then a soap opera, then I wrote the rest while I was supposed to be asleep. Ordinarily I won't be updating quite this fast but I wrote this chapter early and I will be out of my house tomorrow and unable to post.**

* * *

Zuko had basically gotten used to serving tea. He had gotten used to the balance and the focus. He had gotten used to letting go of his anger. One thing he was not used to was the new regular customer.

"Surprise me," Aang said when Zuko asked for his order. Zuko considered giving Aang whichever tea was getting cold or stale, but instead gave him the freshest. Zuko didn't even know why he did half the things that he did. Aang took a sip and smiled. He motioned for Zuko to sit down, and his uncle, watching the scene, did the same.

Zuko tapped his fingers on the edge of the table. "So… what's up?" He asked.

"Eh. Not much. I finished all my homework early. What time does your shift end? Is all your homework done? Do you like the arcade? I like the arcade. I think they have a new game there. I want to check it out. Do you want to check it out? What time does your shift end?" Aang said in one breath, then breathed in deeply.

"You asked that twice."

"I did? Oh, sorry. So what time does your shift end?"

"Eight. And yes, I finished my homework, and yes I like the arcade. And yes I want to check it out," Zuko answered all the questions. Aang tried not to smile. Zuko was getting used to him. Not everybody could answer all his questions like that.

"Do you-"

"Yes, I want to check out the arcade with you after my shift," Zuko said. Because when your roommate/regular customer/potential future friend asks you to hang out, you go. And Zuko was beginning to think that Aang fit that description.

"Since this game is new, and neither of us can have an advantage, how about a bet? Loser buys winner some food after we're done here," Aang said. But he really didn't know what he was getting into. Zuko and Aang were both really great at this game. They were getting into it and it was a lot of fun. Finally, though, at the end, it was Aang who was victorious.

"YES! Who's the champion of Pac-Man? Aang is!" **(Don't own)**

Zuko laughed, and rolled his eyes. "C'mon, where do you want to eat?" They ended up eating at a local burger joint, not really caring that they had already had dinner. They're teenage boys, why should they?

"And it turns out that with balance and focus I actually can serve tea," Zuko was telling Aang, who instead of being bored to death, was listening intently.

"That sounds exactly like what I do when I…" Aang leaned in and spoke quietly, "airbend."

"You know, I've never even thought of that. Maybe you were right, and I shouldn't be so angry. I could focus and balance, and have more control. Hmm… now that you mention it that could be a good idea."

"Yup. I do that sometimes. Have good ideas, that is." Aang smiled. He finished eating his hamburger and fries and drank the rest of his soda. Zuko considered the fact that he could have ordered whatever he wanted and Zuko would have had to pay for it. There was something… nice about this kid. Zuko had never realized that people ever were this nice, but that didn't mean that he thought Aang was weird. It meant that he had a new friend.

* * *

The next day was the first day of Zuko's tea brewing lessons. He was almost excited for this. Last night, he had tried out the balancing and focusing thing and it had increased his ability to control fire in the same way that it had increased his ability to serve tea. He figured that the brewing lessons could help further.

"Now, tea brewing is easy enough. I assume you know the basics, so we will go into the specific things that can make my tea even better. The first one is passion. You have to like what you are doing, and you can't do it only for the money or the other benefits." Was Iroh reading his mind? "And you have to make the water only hot enough to do its job, not quite boiling, but nearly. It is hard to get this exactly right."

"Wouldn't it be better to boil it? This way, it will stay hotter longer, and you'll never have to reheat it. Then the customers get hot tea quickly," Zuko pointed out.

"No, Zuko, you must not think that way. This way, the customers do not burn their tongues on the tea. Quality is much more important than speed. That brings me to the only other thing you need, and that is patience. You must wait for the tea to brew perfectly long enough." Zuko remembered what had happened the last time he had listened to his uncle's advice, so he heeded this advice to, and as he went to sleep that night, he thought of the next day, where he would brew and serve tea.

The next day, he was doing a great job with the tea business. It seemed that Iroh knew what he was talking about. Aang gave Zuko a big thumbs up when he drank the tea, and that was even before Zuko mentioned the fact that he himself had made it.

"Hey, Aang, I need to talk to you. Will you be in our room before Sokka gets back from… whatever it is that Sokka does?" Zuko whispered.

"He does his homework with Katara. Apparently, he is really great with history and science and she's good at math and literature…" Aang said.

"Lucky for us we're good at all of them, and Spanish! So, can you?" Zuko asked.

Aang rolled his eyes at Zuko's bragging, but he was right… and since Spanish was a requirement he wondered how Sokka and Katara were doing with that. "Maybe we should help them with their Spanish? And sure, I can talk."

"Help them? We don't even know them. I don't even know how you know what Sokka does after school," Zuko said.

"I asked him." Zuko supposed that he should have expected that answer. It was just so… Aang.

When they got back to the room, Zuko awkwardly sat on his bed, the single bed. Aang's bed was the top bunk, so instead his simply awkwardly sat on the other side of Zuko's. He smiled.

"What's up?"

"Well, I was just thinking that maybe it would be smart for us to practice our bending… together. You know, after my shift at work and stuff. Air and fire are relatively similar and we could probably help each other out. Plus, it would be quite a bit better than being alone," Zuko said.

"Of course! That sounds great! I was looking for someone to train with! I barely talk to Sokka, and he doesn't bend anyway. I don't even know Katara or Toph. And now if Katara makes us meet again, we can show off!" Aang said. Zuko chuckled quietly as Aang rattled of things that he had never even considered. The only reason he had planned this was because he had realized that he now had a friend, and made an even more stunning revelation: he didn't like to be alone. It was, in fact, extremely lonely.

"But… why did you want to do this?" Aang asked.

"Oh, you know, if there's someone else there I can… ask their opinion… and stuff. You know, feedback. I can't have feedback if I'm alone." Aang read way more into that than Zuko realized, and smiled.

"Okay."

* * *

The next day, they did exactly that. They went to the area outside where everybody had met both times Katara had organized meetings. Zuko was practicing all the techniques his uncle taught him, and explaining them to Aang: Balance, focus, letting go of anger, passion, not too much force, and patience. And Aang was really catching on. After a lot of hard work, both of them appeared to have mastered the basics of their respective elements.

"That went… really well. I guess tomorrow, same time, we may be able to invent new techniques," Zuko said.

"Wow. You sure are suddenly optimistic," Aang said.

"Yeah, well, I suddenly have a friend."

* * *

**A/N: Aw!!! Oh my god, the fluff lover in me absolutely loved that line. Soooooo sweet. I would appreciate a review or two! And my plan for the next chapter involves… Some characters you saw in the first chapter. Two of them, and mentions of a third by one of them. Sorry about not having as long of a chapter as the last one.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Alrighty then… I've decided to post another chapter since I suppose I can now live with the fact that chapter 6 got no reviews. I can only hope somebody read it and liked it well enough since this story is on people's story alert. And I suppose I can try to convince myself that ff **_**was**_** a little buggy when I put it up. This chapter starts sort of another minor plot that we also see in the real version, Zuko searching for his father's acceptance, although I guess it's weird since he's friends with Aang… I also decided to take more than just one day writing this. So, I hope there are people reading and enjoying.**

Zuko leaned back in the chair of the far table in his uncle's tea shop. Aang was sitting across from him, stirring his tea absentmindedly. They had met there because it was Sunday and Zuko's shift didn't start for an hour. They figured they could talk somewhere without too many people listening. They talked about random things, from the day's history lesson, to what was going on in the countries on the other side of the world. They had started talking about how annoying their Spanish teacher was, when Zuko's phone suddenly rang. He quickly answered it, feeling awkward making so much noise in a quiet tea shop. Unfortunately, he forgot to check the caller ID in his haste. He should have figured something was up, considering the fact that the only two people who ever called him were in the same building as he was.

"Hello?" Zuko said into the phone.

"Ah, Zuko. So lovely to be able to talk to my son," a familiar voice answered.

"Dad?" Aang sucked in a quick breath at Zuko's words. All that Zuko had ever told Aang about his father was that he shipped him off to boarding school because he didn't want to see his face anymore.

"Don't sound so surprised! I was just calling to tell you that I got your report card. You have straight A's."

"Um. Well. Yeah. Yes. I do. So?" Zuko looked at Aang as if expecting him to have heard his father.

"And why did you never get grades like this back at home? Suddenly I ship you away from our home and you end up doing better? Why?" Because at home Azula was there. I didn't feel like trying without even getting recognized. Because you were there. Here, Uncle encourages me. Because I had no friends. Now Aang and I do homework together.

But all he said was, "I don't know. Maybe the school's better."

Ozai didn't like that. He was the principal at Phoenix High School, and would not tolerate people mentioning it in such a light. "PHS is a fine school. You know that the only reason that I would send you away is because Azula told me that you had distracted her at school, and disgraced our family to your teachers. You know, this year she has your old teachers, and they always say she is better than you were. I can't stand by while you make us seem unintelligent. "

"That's not fair. You know I never wanted to do that."

"Don't contradict your father. I've set up a meeting between myself and the dean of this so called "academy" and you and I will see him Monday morning before your first class starts, at seven. Do not be late." He hung up. Zuko banged his head on the table, and left it laying there. Aang patted his shoulder.

"So… what was that all about?" he asked softly, almost as if he were afraid that Zuko would be angry with him for asking. Luckily, it seemed he was angrier at the situation than everything else.

"My dad is surprised at my good performance this semester. And back home, my dad is the principal of my old school, which he obviously thinks is better than this one."

"So… why'd he send you here?" Aang asked.

"Well, he assumed that I would be a failure anywhere he put me, and back at home my younger sister told him that I was distracting to her. He always puts her first, and so he obviously believed her, even though I don't give a damn what she does. I don't…"

"Well I'm sure it isn't that much of a problem. I mean, you did a good job with your grades; shouldn't he be happy for you?"

"No. He takes it as an insult to his school, and he wonders why I didn't do this well back at home. He can't accept the fact that I just learn better here. Besides, it gets worse. He's meeting with the headmaster today. He'll probably rip his head off or something," Zuko said.

Aang smiled. "I don't think you have to worry about that. The headmaster here's pretty tough."

"How the heck would you know that, Mr. Goody-Goody?"

"He's my dad. Well, legally, anyway."

"Oh." Zuko felt bad for having snapped. "But just about everything hits a sore spot with my father. If he says that the teachers say that I'm a pleasure to have in class he'll say I'm not asserting myself or something. If he says I'm making friends my dad will say that we don't need friends, only people who will help us achieve our goals without getting in the way. Pawns."

Aang shrugged. "I could ask him not to, if you want. He could be vague and over-cooperative if that would do any good."

"No. You don't have to do that. It's fine, really. I'll be there."

Aang left a little while after the start of Zuko's shift. He walked into school, and into the headmaster's office.

"Well, hello Aang! It's so great to see you. What brings you to this neck of the woods?" Gyatso asked cheerily.

"It's about my friend Zuko…" Aang said.

The next morning Zuko woke up an hour before his meeting was supposed to start. The headmaster's office was a ten minute walk away at a slow pace, and Zuko definitely did not need fifty minutes to get ready, but he did not want to risk falling back asleep, which he was pretty sure was likely if he continued to lay in his bed. He got up, went into the bathroom, and spent too much time doing things that didn't require that kind of time, such as his hair. Eventually, it came time to leave. He quietly opened the door and started to leave the room. As he was closing the door behind him, he could have sworn he heard a little voice wishing him luck. He was sure it was his imagination.

He knocked on the door to the headmaster's office, and came in when requested.

"Ah. Hello Zuko. You're early," Gyatso said. Zuko looked at his watch. It was 6:59.

"Um, actually, not really."

"So nice to see you today. I hope you're enjoying your classes?"

"Yeah, they're fine," Zuko said. Ozai walked into the room, wearing a dark gray suit with a plain red tie.

"Ah, so sorry, I appear to be late," Ozai said in a falsely friendly voice. Zuko checked his watch again. It was 7:01.

"Hello, I am Gyatso, headmaster here at Discipline Academy."

"Ozai."

"You said that you would like to discuss your son's performance. Which area did you have in mind?" Gyatso smiled. Ozai didn't.

"Well, he has been doing much better here than he has at his old school. The school where I, currently serve as principal. Frankly, I think that your work _must _be too easy."

"I assure you that our curriculum is one of the most advanced ones. We have some of the best teachers in the country, and a great history. I'm sure that it was not the school your son used to attend that had anything to do with his performance there. Perhaps there was something going on at home?"

Zuko tried not to groan. Of all the things that Gyatso shouldn't have mentioned in this conversation, anything insulting to Ozai or Azula was at the top of that list.

"Are you implying that any part of my household is substandard?"

"Not at all, not at all. I am merely implying that it may not have been the best environment for Zuko to be leading his life in. I have read that he has a sister. Maybe they were having trouble?"

Ozai stood up. "I will not allow you to imply that my daughter has anything to do with any incompetence of _him_! I can't stand for this!"

"You just did. And I am afraid that I cannot allow you to raise your voice in my office. Now, I take it that answered all your questions and you can be on your way. Thank you so much for stopping by."

Ozai turned his head toward Gyatso, but his eyes were pointed straight at Zuko. "I will be back. Don't forget it." He turned and left.

"What a pleasant man," Gyatso said with a smile. Zuko tried not to laugh.

"So, how'd it go?" Aang asked when Zuko got back to the room after both of their classes were over.

"You were right. He is tough." Aang laughed. Zuko joined in. It felt good to laugh, after all that.

**A/N: Well that was sort of a crappy chapter. Sorry. But next chapter has Sokka, Toph, and Katara in it! So look forward to that. And review! Because if I don't get any then I know it was my suckiness that prevented people from reviewing last time. Love!!**


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